Hide and Seek
by Vampirekissesx908
Summary: Ricky stood in front of her to protect her, to shield her. But he knew it was no good. They were surrounded on all sides. The predators were wild, seeking their revenge. It was a fierce game of hide and seek, and they were hiding.
1. Prologue

_PREFACE_:

Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven. Time was almost up, and he knew he had only seconds. He stood in front of her to protect her, to shield her. But he knew it was no good. They were surrounded on all sides. Every where he looked, the predators were awaiting their kill.

They were wild, here for one purpose only. And that was revenge. Wherever he went, he knew he was not safe there. His family wasn't safe; his friends weren't safe. The whole neighborhood was in danger of manslaughter. It was a fierce, blood pumping game of hide and seek, and they were hiding.

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**Hide and Seek**

**Prologue  
**

His heartbeat was becoming more and more unsteady, thudding one hundred and twenty beats per minute. He stood in the empty parking lot, the night sky emitting a cold wind in the air. But sweat was building on his forehead. Angry sweat.

He froze, stopped dead in his tracks and swallowed hard. He knew someone was behind him, watching him, ready to approach his prey. But he would not take this any longer. Always, he had been the one afraid, but not anymore.

Gun clenched tight in his hand, on the exhale he flipped around and held the gun up facing the predator. He put his finger on the trigger, ready to pull it at any moment. He did not know the man would go to the extent he did. Of course he was capable, but this was too much.

He was on parole again, only this time he came to realize what he didn't want to happen most had happened. He was doing drugs again, somehow without getting caught. He was violent, vicious.

The predator took a step forward, hesitating his approach. "What are you going to do?" he said. "Kill your own father?"

He clutched the gun tighter and clenched his teeth, fury and hatred in his eyes, the own emotions that his father carried, and he was capable of as well. But he did not let these emotions out around other people. He was his own self, not a violent guy.

"Go ahead and shoot," he persisted. "You're in for a hell of a life if you do that. You'll end up in prison, just like me."

He stared at the gun and smiled a crooked smile. "You'll come to your senses and realize that you're me. We're the same."

His finger was on the trigger now. Tears were in his eyes; he was pissed. He'd had enough. "I am _not_ you!" he yelled, pulling the trigger. He watched as the man staggered backwards to the ground, blood seeping out of his body. "You shouldn't have done that," he coughed.

He took two steps closer. He had injured his father, and he knew at any moment he would die. He put the gun in his pocket, and all he could do was get inside his car and drive away. _That was the only solution, _he thought. _Even if it means going to prison. _

At least his father was dead, and no one could be harmed anymore. He had threatened John and Amy's family. He'd threatened Amy and the whole city. "_I told you it wasn't a good idea for you to have a baby. And you didn't listen to me!"_ he had said. "_Now the kid's screwed forever."_

_"How long are you going to lie to yourself? You're not a good guy. You don't care about anyone except yourself. You're so selfish. I'll take him from you, the baby's probably better off with me anyone. Maybe Amy should be taught a lesson, too. Trusting you was a stupid thing to do." _He never did actually hurt them, and they didn't even know his father was on parole. No one except Ricky knew his father was on parole. That was his father's only mission. To harm him. He wanted everyone else to think he wasn't a bad guy, but Amy's family knew. They knew everything.

Sometimes Ricky thought maybe he was the same as him, but he didn't feel the same. He loved his son, and he would never hurt him. He loved Adrian-- or so he told her he did. And he didn't want to harm anyone, really. Except his father.

He pulled into the driveway of Adrian's new house but felt his phone vibrating in his pocket. He took it out and looked at the caller ID:

_Bob Underwood._


	2. Our Death

A/N: This chapter isn't very long, but the first couple of chapters are kind of just fillers. The story will get more intense as it goes on, so this is just the beginning.

Don't forget to review!

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**Hide and Seek**

**Chapter 2**

_When did I have his number saved on my phone?_ Ricky pondered. He let his phone ring, without answering it, and he threw it down on the floorboard and went up to the Adrian's door and banged loudly on it. "Adrian, open the door!"

The door flew open, Adrian standing there, baffled. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he replied, frustrated. "I'm just not having a good day."

"Why?"

"Just because." Adrian glared at him, and he sighed and continued, knowing she wouldn't let it go. "My father's out of prison and I'm not having a good day. Let's leave it at that, okay?"

Ricky walked past her, but she grabbed his arm. "Wait, what? He's out of prison, again? Why?"

"He's on parole. I don't know why. It doesn't matter." He ignored her questioning look and kissed her forcibly, but she pushed him away.

"What are you doing!" she demanded. "I'm not doing that when your father is on parole!" She picked up her phone and started dialing a number. "We have to call my dad! We have to-"

Ricky took the phone from her hand. "No! I don't want anyone to know. Especially your dad. No one knows he's on parole except me. And he's been doing drugs the whole time they released him from prison. Because he's really angry... violent. More than ever. That's how he gets when he's on drugs. And he's after me. That's the only reason he's hanging around here, because he wants to either hurt me or John."

"Why John?"

His dad didn't want Ricky having a baby. He had wanted to sell him for money, but Ricky wouldn't have let him do that. "Can we just stop talking about this? It doesn't matter right now."

She gave him a look of disbelief. "What is wrong with you! Of course it matters! Why would it not matter?"

"Because I... shot him. But he's not dead. He called me."

"You _shot_ him? What the hell, Ricky?"

He turned around and headed for the door. "I've got to go."

She shoved him against the wall and stopped him from leaving. "You can't just leave. Talk to me, Ricky!"

"I've already told you all that I know. You better not tell anyone. I didn't even want to tell you. Good night." He pushed her away and quickly slipped out the door before she had time to stop him again.

He cautiously walked to his car and started the ignition once he was inside. He turned on the heater and backed out of the driveway and down the road. He pulled onto the highway, and as he reached the intersection, something darted out from the woods and in front of his car. He slammed on the break, but he already hit it.

His heart was racing because he knew something was off; something wasn't right. That was when he noticed a light flickering in the dark car, coming from the floorboard. His eyes quickly found the source of the light--someone was calling his cell phone again.

Stopping in the driveway of the butcher shop, where his apartment was, he reached down and looked at his phone.

_One missed call:_

_Bob Underwood._

"What the hell?" he muttered to himself. He knew he had never put his dad's number in his phone; he didn't even know the number. He went to his contacts and deleted the number, then he deleted the two voicemails without reading them.

He shoved the phone in his pocket, and his heart almost stopped when he heard what sounded like someone pounding on the back window of the car. Adrenaline was pumping in his blood, and he turned around and looked toward the sound--but there was nothing there.

He backed up the car, willing to hit whatever was standing behind the car. He drove to the place he knew he should be; he drove to the Juergens' house, knowing immediately that John was in danger. Amy was in danger, also, Ricky knew.

That's what Bob wanted. To hurt every person involved in Ricky's decision in keeping the baby, which was Amy's whole family. And he'd hurt anyone else who got in the way, or anyone else whom he desired.

He parked in the driveway and went inside through the unlocked front door. Ricky expected Amy to be standing there, in a bad mood about why he spontaneously showed up, but he found her, Anne, George, and Ashley sitting on the living room couch, eyes glued to the television.

He walked up beside the couch, confused. "What's up?"

Ashley quickly looked his way for only a second, but then looked back at the TV as she spoke. "The News is on. It's kind of... bad."

He watched the screen to find out what was so _bad._ The News lady was talking, showing a picture of the desolate street of California."There were no weapons found," the newscaster said. "Not a single weapon. Of the eight victims lives that were taken, not one of them have any evidence of there being a weapon involved.

"Neither do they show evidence of this being an attack of an animal. Our guess is that the victims were suffocated, strangled to death. But what leaves us bewildered is that they were shoved in garbage bags outside their homes; blood was found _inside_ the bag and on the ground, implying that there _must_ have been some sort of weapon, but that is obviously not the case."

The screen changed, showing a woman standing outside her house. "I don't know what happened," she said, crying. "I was at work, and I got a call that they were dead..." She paused.

"Is there anyone you know that could have done it?" the interviewer asked in the background.

She shook her head. "No one. All I know is that I saw them this morning and they were fine. I got ready for work, like always, and my husband went to work, and I went to work and took the kids to school. Then I got a call that he was _dead_," she choked out. "That they were all dead!"

Ricky stared, close to tears, at the screen. Seven children were killed, for no reason at all. And he knew who killed them. But how could he have killed six people alone? He hated to even think of the thought.

Ricky knew his father wouldn't stop until he killed him, maybe even the whole city. No one was safe; Ricky knew that. He rushed to John's room; he had to protect John to start with. He had to protect Amy and her family, because that was who he was after. But he didn't want to tell them.

All he knew was that they had to hide. They had to escape somewhere or else it was their death.


End file.
